Greta Gerwig could well be the muse of mumblecore. Immediately endearing and
unaffected, the 24-year-old Gerwig has gone from playwright to player in the
burgeoning mumblecore movement -- the low-budget, talkie-based,
Richard-Linklater-meets-American-Apparel-meets-some-dude's-kitchen genre taking
hold by way of filmmakers Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair), Andrew Bujalski
(Mutual Appreciation) and Ry Russo-Young (Orphans), among others. After agreeing
to take cellphone pictures of herself for mumblecorian Joe Swanberg's film LOL,
Gerwig left Brooklyn for Chicago to make Swanberg's next film, the beautiful,
rambly Hannah Takes the Stairs. The film, which follows a college grad and
aspiring playwright named Hannah (Gerwig), feels less like a movie and more like
a collection of real-life scenes caught on tape by a hand-held digital camera.
Of the mumblecore-ic tendency to elevate a random conversation into art: "People
are suddenly like, 'Wow, there's a lot happening in my kitchen -- I don't need to
go so outside of myself to find something that's quietly epic,'" says Gerwig. As
all eyes in the indie film world look upon these young auteurs, Gerwig is fast
emerging as the ingenue of the bunch with a laundry list of upcoming films.
"I've always liked art that has come out of some sense of a movement. I always
relish in these ideas of, you know, Gertrude Stein buying Picassos and
introducing these people to other people. I like the idea of being part of a
movement -- even if it's a badly named movement."
Alexis Swerdloff * Photographed by Katherine Wolkoff
Greta Gerwig wears a cardigan and blouse by Chloé, skirt by Moschino, earrings by Melissa Joy Manning and rings by Irene Neuwirth * Styling by Kristen Naiman * Hair by Wesley O'Meara for Bumble & bumble at the Wall Group * Makeup by Justin St. Clair for Laura Mercier * Assistant to photographer: Sherri O'Connor * Assistant to stylist: Janicza Bravo
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